We've started school & we're pregnant!

Robby and I have finally started our first week of school at USC.

The weather is in the unbearably 90s. An oppressively warm breeze flows through Culver City, which means that the air sits still on the USC campus, which is at least 15 miles inland. The stifling heat is intolerable, so I seek cooler temperatures in Doheny Library & the Annenberg building. But the air conditioning is so cold, that I end up getting the sniffles. Ugh, my body is not good at regulating temperature.

Despite the horrible summer temperatures, I'm very happy to be starting the Doctor of Education program at USC. Everyone has been SO nice.

Robby is also happy to start the new semester. He has a new set of impressionable undergraduate minds to mold, and he needs to start his dissertation soon. Plus, he's a 4th year & closer to being done!

Also, WE'RE PREGNANT!

We found out Japan at the end of June. We went to a pharmacy & Robby performed a funny pantomine of a pregnant woman.

A few weeks ago, I went to the USC Medical Center thinking I would just pee on a stick to get a confirmation. But after twirling her round calendar, the nurse practitioner pulled out the ultrasound machine and VOILA! I could see a little fetus with a big head & tiny heartbeat. Wow. I also saw its butt, spine, & toes. It was quite emotionally overwhelming. I wish Robby had been there. He probably would have teared up, like me.

Robby made a cute magic video for our parents. In it, he hosts a magic show that turns into a baby announcement. iMovie is awesome! We showed my parents first, then waited for Robby's mom & stepdad to wake up in Germany so that we wouldn't wake them up at too obscene an hour. Robby's dad & stepmom saw the video in the evening. After the parents & family members were told, we unleashed the video on facebook. You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulp8LsTuWOs

Luckily, I have not experienced any morning sickness. Thus, I've been denying the pregnancy for the past three months. I simply haven't felt ANY changes in my body since conception. I thought my slight weight gain came from traveling & eating too much in Japan & New Jersey (like that chili hot dog at Prestige Diner). Actually, fatigue is my only symptom. Phew! I don't mind sleeping.

Oh, we've decided not to call IT a "fetus" but a "guppy". Fetus is too scientific, & though IT probably doesn't look like a guppy anymore, we figured "guppy" was cute enough.

Japan in Culver City

Yesterday, Robby & I rode our bikes past downtown Culver City into the artsy gallery district that surrounds the ever-so-popular Father Office (gourmet burgers without ketchup for $14; we've reviewed in it in a previous blog entry). On Washington Blvd., we rode by a Japanese-inspired gallery & cafe called Royal-T. All sorts of creepy vinyl dolls were displayed behind big windows, so we decided to stop and explore the gallery a bit. The large gallery had modern art of modern materials (plastic, vinyl, acrylic paint, figurines, etc.). The gallery works generally had a superhero theme: photos of aged superheros (a dejected Wonder Woman standing outside a mobile home...). The cafe stood in the center of the gallery and the waitresses were dressed up as maids. Maids! Just like the ones in the maid cafes in Tokyo! The first thing I thought was, If I were a gaijin opening this Japanese-inspired gallery, the first thing I would bring is a maid cafe. We Americans love novelties, especially ones that take the form of adolescent, submissive Asian women in pigtails and French maid outfits. There were about 4 parties there, all cool looking young people, not the way-cool, too-cool-to-make-eye-contact-with-you hipsters in Hollywood or Silverlake, but cool for Culver City.
It was a weird but pleasant reminder of our time in Japan.

Another quick recapitulation of our recent activities

Where to begin?
Robby & I have been settling back into life away from family. We're starting to cook again. We've been more adventurous in exploring our surrounding areas, like venturing to the Whole Foods in Santa Monica. It's an expensive supermarket, but Robby likes the healthy options. We have been riding our bikes around town for the past three days, meandering through unfamiliar neighborhoods and finding short cuts to our favorite places. It's amazing how much more one notices when she is on a bicycle.

What else?...

Movies! We love movies. Here are a few movies we've seen in the past month:

1. Public Enemies: BOOOOOO. It's a typical movie that glorifies the gangster, like Al Pacino's Scarface. Unfortunately, positive reviews in the N.Y. Times and New Yorker led me to suggest this movie. The cinematography is gorgeous, the costumes & 1920s setting are consistent & detailed (this is what the critics loved most about the movie), but the story & characters were flat.

2. Persepolis: I'm a big fan of the graphic novel. The film is very good; I cried a few times. It's tragic, humorous, dark, somber, touching. Plus, it's educational. I highly recommend it.

3. (500) Days of Summer: Zooey Deschanel is absolutely charming! This humorous break-up film is unconventional compared to the cookie-cutter Hollywood romances. It's a romance that is bound to topple. As a viewer, you see the signs early on, but since the film is from the point-of-view of the sappy, romantic male protagonist, you have to spend a few hours watching him step closer and closer to the epiphany that his girlfriend doesn't love him & does whatever she wants. It's got a fabulous soundtrack. & I love Zooey Deschanel's 1950s wardrobe.

4. Funny People: This is a serious movie about stand-up comedians. It's funny, but it's more serious than funny. I think that's probably why it received mediocre reviews in the N.Y. Times; it doesn't quite fit into a specific genre. Like all Apatow movies, the female roles are rough and shallow sketches of possibly complex characters. The male characters are given much more depth and sympathy. Seth Rogen is a likable actor, whereas Adam Sandler will never come across as down-to-earth and sincere. We were impressed that the opening footage of Sandler's crank calls were done when he and Apatow were roommates. All in all, I give it a B.

I think that's it for now.